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Here is our head-to-head comparison of various search tools:
We decided to test the power of the Search Tools by seeing how they compared in performing a simple search. We decided to look for peer-reviewed articles on an Indian herb commonly called "Gotu Kola," or "Indian pennywort," and its alleged healing properties. Since Gotu Kola (no relation to Coca Cola, by the way) is scientifically known as "Centella asiatica," we decided to use this two-word term as we ran the various search tools in the Links section through their paces.
And here is what we found:
Conclusions: We found many interesting facts about Gotu Kola at most of these sites, facts which back up the traditional claims that it helps in healing.
Either PubMed, HealthGate Regular, or HealthWorld could be used to garner most of this information. However, our clear first choice is still PubMed. A good second choice is Avicenna's General Search, however this has the annoying password access.HealthGate beta's CancerLit didn't have much on this topic, just two references. But it is important to note that one of these was not found by the other search tools--a 1972 article from a journal called "Chung Hua Min Kuo Wei Sheng Wu Hsueh Tsa Chih." So, a complete search should at least check out at HealthGate beta's CancerLit.
HealthWorld claim to offer "free Medline" is a bit deceptive.What it's really offering you is NLightN, a pay-for-info service that you have to join with a deposit of cybermoney in order to access. HealthWorld mixes in its Medline references with a lot of other stuff, such as chemical formulas. While 59 references would seem to make it the clear winner in the Search Engine Sweepstakes, some of these turned out to be duplicates, some were in languages other than English, and 22 carried a surcharge (usually 10¢) just to take a peek at the citation. Messy and confusing interface.
The big surprise--and disappontment--was U of Bonn CancerLit. I can't quite figure out the interface, but it could find NO references to Centella asiatica, whereas HealthGate beta's CancerLit found two. That's inexcusable. We found the same thing in many other searches. To be honest, I am not sure exactly what this "CancerLit" is searching. It can't be the whole CancerLit database, however.
Since Bonn is supposed to be a mirror site of the U.S. National Cancer Institute's own site, I decided to go to the source. Trying to access NCI's page froze my machine four times in a row, as Netscape unexpectedly and angrily quit on me. Even in cyberspace, it seems, NCI and I just can't get along....:-)
--RWM
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is the author of eight books and three documentaries on cancer-related topics. He is an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, Columbia University, and the University of Texas. He researches and writes individualized "Healing Choices" reports for people with cancer. For information on Healing Choices, you can contact fill out a Questionnaire, send us an instant email message or contact coordinator Anne Beattie @ 144 St. John's Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217; Phone 718-636-4433; Fax 718-636-0186.